Success Story: Carl Jean-Pierre ’20 earns EY internship

Success Stories | Mar 27, 2017 | admin

“Come back in a year or two.”

For some freshmen, hearing this advice at a career fair might be discouraging.

For Carl Jean-Pierre, BS ’20, it made him even more determined to line up an internship.

He will start this summer at Ernst & Young in its 10-week rotational business advisory program in the financial services office. As a finance major, he expects the firsthand exposure he gets in this role to give him a broad base upon which to expand his skills.

Securing a summer internship during his first year at the Gabelli School wasn’t easy. But Jean-Pierre was motivated. Attending a recruiting event on the Rose Hill campus, he found out about EY’s Launch Internship Program for younger undergraduates.

At his interview at the EY office, he had to work out a case study. “They wanted to see my thought process and how I could give advice,” he says.

He was up for the challenge, having taken economics and statistics classes in high school in anticipation of mastering the college business curriculum.

While these courses helped, his preparation for the interview—and for his future career—didn’t end in the classroom. A four-year high school varsity football player, Jean-Pierre credits his perseverance to what he practiced on the field.

“It’s so physically and mentally demanding,” he says. “You learn to push your limits, and that transfers anywhere: the field, the classroom, the workplace.”

Now as a commuter student, he consistently pushes himself to take part in campus activities, from the Dean’s Council to club lacrosse. In any leftover free time, he produces and records hip-hop music.

That sounds like a lot to take on, but Jean-Pierre doesn’t let the stress get to him. Like approaching a case study or a play on the football field, he recommends taking it one step at a time.

“If you know what you want, start with one plan,” he suggests. If the goal is to reach a certain grade point average for the semester, for example, then focus on your courses. “If it’s ‘I want to land an internship,’ reach out to people.”

And if someone tells you to wait a year or two before trying to get that internship, just remember: “You can do anything.”